


Practice Run

by Jassanja



Category: As the World Turns RPF
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, Pick-a-Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-20
Updated: 2010-06-20
Packaged: 2017-10-10 05:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/95984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jassanja/pseuds/Jassanja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From Pick-a-Prompt Round #2:<br/>Eric and Van are ordered to spend some time alone together, in order to build up chemistry between them, to better the interactions between their characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practice Run

It was simple, really.  
Pretend that you were in love, that you were a couple, do couple-y things. Going to the movies, having dinner together, kiss

But it was also pathetic  
Needing Method Acting for this? It implied that you had never before been in love, that you never had had a relationship, that you didn't know what do to be romantic

It was really awkward too.  
Nothing more embarrassing then asking an actress to practice that stuff with you, admitting that you had problems with the chemistry, the romance

Well, Eric thought, whoever said that it was awkward to ask a female co-star had obviously never tried the gay approach to the situation.  
Normally he wasn't as pathetic either. It was part his theatre background.  
What now seemed like endless rehearsals and just as long runs of a play, gave the actors enough time to adapt.  
If you act out the same stuff night after night, six to nine times a week, it just developed naturally, otherwise you were really in trouble and no amount of additional bonding would help.

Time was a luxury that you didn't have in the soap business  
Here you had a few hours under the best of circumstances if you wanted to nail your performance, and unlike other actors who were happy to play cookie-cutter soap characters for their whole career, Eric had every intention on nailing it - in each and every scene  
He needed too, to be satisfied with himself

Thankfully Van just smiled and nodded when Eric asked him to get lunch together  
In the subsequent talk during the meal Eric learned that this wasn't the first time Van had done this to help another actor out on "uncharted territory"  
And if Eric read the hints right, the others before him had been both way more blunt and way more uncomfortable about the matter.

Two days later Van could be found on Eric's couch, signalling with a wave of his hand for Eric to join him.   
They sat thigh to thigh, Van comfortably sprawled out, Eric more alert of the forced closeness, at least until Van's hand fell on his nape, playing with the unruly curls that were in bad need of a cut before the taping for this week began.  
"Relax," Van whispered, and that was the only word spoken for a long while

Eric could feel himself loosen up more and more with every breath. He didn't watch the clock, so it could have been a minute or five or thirty by the time he was fully comfortable. Once he was able to give into the warmth seeping from next to him he had no problem molding his body along Van's

"See, that wasn't so hard," Van murmured, and Eric subconsciously conjured up the image of Luke at the Snyder Farm, using that murmur to calm a horse.  
He couldn't quite figure out where his own snarky doctor fit into the scene, but then, it wasn't his job to come up with the story, so he let it slide.

Boldly he reached out and put his hand on Van's thigh.  
The other man didn't flinch under the contact and Eric let his hand rest, until his finger's muscle memory set in and started to draw circles over the thinly worn denim.

"You are natural at it" Van said, at long last

"Acting?" Eric asked. "Well, thank you, I think so too"

Van laughed. "I meant …" Van started to say, then decided that it would sound stupid to finish that sentence.

It was Eric's turn to laugh now.  
"You know, I got close to other people before," and then in a quieter tone, "and I don't believe that there is that much of a difference between men and women. Holding a hand is holding a hand, touching a leg is touching a leg"

"You will have to do more than touch a leg or hold my hand next week"

"Don't worry, I don't believe that kissing is that much different either"

"But you haven't kissed a guy yet?"

"No, not in a romantic way"

"Shall I offer a practice run, or would that be cheesy and awkward?" Van asked.

"Since you offer I'll take an awkward practice run now, over the shock of finding out that it is different after all in front of a dozen people next Thursday" Eric said with a chuckle.

Van leaned in and his lips brushed Eric's. Lightly at first, then firmer, almost demanding.  
They hadn't set the parameters, but Eric found himself following instinct and open up, letting Van and Van's tongue set the pace.

"So?" Van asked, a felt eternity later.

"I've done a lot more unpleasant things in the name of selling a scene" Eric answered, a smile on his lips.

Van chuckled. "Good to know there are more unpleasant things than kissing me." He sobered up before he continued. "So was there a difference to kissing women?"

"A bit more stubble perhaps…" Eric said.

They both broke out in loud laughter at that.


End file.
